Bishop's Message

Bishop Wm Chris Boerger Northwest Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Subscribe to receive notification of new messages >

Helping Those Living In Poverty
by The Rev. Wm Chris Boerger, Bishop

Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, "When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat." Amos 8:4-6 NRSV

Later this month every member of the ELCA who filed a tax return will be receiving a check from the US Treasury that is intended to stimulate the nation's economy.

At the most recent meeting of the Conference of Bishops we were challenged by our "Ministry Among People in Poverty Committee" to tithe to a ministry working with the poor. We were also asked to encourage all of our rostered leaders to do the same. I am taking a step beyond that to encourage all of the members of this synod to tithe this stimulus package to those who will use it to address the issues of poverty in our communities.

It is a sad commentary on our society when we who consume so much of the world's resources are encouraged to spend our way out of our economic dilemmas. It is also telling that those who might most need the buying power of these funds are left out of the distribution because they have not paid taxes. So, it is left to the people of God to respond to this.

This is not the first time that God's people are left to act for justice in God's world. The prophets of the Old Testament spent much of their time and energy calling the economy of Israel into question. Their words are still valid today.

So, I ask you to consider a tithe or greater to one of our social ministry organizations. Those specifically working with the poor in this synod are the Compass Center, LATCH, Lutheran Community Services NW, Lutheran Volunteer Corp. The numerous nursing homes and elder care facilities in this synod are always providing care beyond what society reimburses.

In this way, by giving to one of our social ministries, we may use something we did not expect in a way that expresses God's preference for the poor.

Editor's Note: The organizations that Bishop Boeger mentions in his article can be found on the synod's website at www.lutheransnw.org. The list of organizations can be found under Ministry Partners. To see how much you will be getting visit http://www.irs.gov  and click on Stimulus Package . To learn more about what ELCA is doing to help others visit http://www.elca.org/churchinsociety/ . And, to learn what we are going here in our synod to fight hunger please contact the Kristie Necklason, Northwest Washington Synod World Hunger Committee, at worldhunger@lutheransnw.org.